This blog is written by a journalist based in Mumbai who writes about cities, the environment, developmental issues, the media, women and many other subjects.The title 'ulti khopdi' is a Hindi phrase referring to someone who likes to look at things from the other side.

Monday, May 26, 2014

What should we expect?

The Hindu, Sunday Magazine, May 25, 2014

Photo: The Hindu photo archives

The shouting is over. The voters have voted. India has a
new set of rulers. And for the majority, who did not cast their votes
in favour of the party now in power, this is a time for reflection.

How
do we weigh this outcome? How should we respond if we feel less than
enthusiastic? Should we be resigned and say ‘the people’ have decided
and therefore we must accept? Or do we, the majority that did not vote
this party into power, take on the role of the real opposition — one
that is as essential a part of any democracy as elections?

And
then again, if we consider ourselves the real opposition, given the
truncated elected opposition in the Lok Sabha, how should we conduct
ourselves? How do we make our voices heard when an election has allowed
one grouping to get what is termed a ‘brute majority’?

In
the post-election euphoria, these might not seem the relevant questions
to be asking. But this is precisely the moment when these issues should
be discussed.

Let’s take the question of women, for
example. Since the December 16, 2012 gang rape in New Delhi, India has
gained the reputation worldwide of being a country where its women are
under attack — in the public space, in their homes, in villages, in
conflict zones. Some of the reporting in the western media is out of
context, even alarmist. Yet no one will dispute the reality that
violence against women is growing and that it ought to be an issue of
urgent concern for any group that claims it will provide the country
with good governance.

Every mainstream political
party endorses ‘women’s welfare’. The much-overused term ‘women’s
empowerment’ slips off the tongues of politicians of all hues with ease.
Yet, the women of India know that there is a difference between
rhetoric and reality, between promises and performance, between the
‘safety’ of being confined and the ‘safety’ of being free.

So as a new government takes power in Delhi, what should we as women be demanding of it and what should we expect?

The
most obvious demand is likely to be the passing of the Women’s
Reservation Bill. It has been passed by the Rajya Sabha and awaits the
consent of the Lok Sabha and half the state assemblies before it can
become the law. This ‘brute majority’ should have no problem passing the
Bill. But will it?

Even if it does, will that
establish the new government’s credentials as a supporter of women’s
rights? Not necessarily because even the most vociferous advocates of
this law know that political representation is only a very small part of
the overall struggle to ensure that all women get equal rights.

A
more important test, I believe, will be to monitor if and whether the
party in power reins in members of its ‘Parivar’ who have little regard
for women’s rights. We have seen these elements in action as they attack
young women in pubs, stop films where they conclude without any
evidence that ‘Indian’ culture is being demeaned, demonstrate the extent
of their misogyny when they launch personal and vitriolic attacks on
women who speak out, women like the actress Nandita Das.

These
elements have in the past supported the barbaric tradition of ‘sati’
claiming it was part of ‘culture’, they have refused to condemn honour
killings, they have looked the other way when men like Babu Bajrangi,
now serving a life sentence for the 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre of 97
Muslims in Gujarat, forcibly prevented young people of different faiths
getting married. According to such people, the rights of Indian women
are confined within the definition of what they choose to call ‘Indian’
culture. The new Prime Minister of India has already equated Hindu and
the nation in his self-definition as a ‘Hindu nationalist’. So women
should worry as the line between ‘Indian’ and ‘Hindu’ has been erased.

The
real threat to the rights of all women, irrespective of class, caste or
creed is from these self-appointed defenders of ‘Indian’ culture — the
likes of the Sri Ram Sena, the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
—who will feel no compulsion to hold back now that their ‘family’
members are in power.

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My profile

Journalist, columnist, writer based in Mumbai. Author of "Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories from Asia's largest slum" (Penguin, 2000). Worked with The Hindu, Times of India, Indian Express and Himmat Weekly.
Other books include "Whose News? The Media and Women's Issues" edited with Ammu Joseph (published by Sage 1994/2006), "Terror Counter-Terror: Women Speak Out" edited with Ammu Joesph (published by Kali for Women, 2003) and "Missing: Half the Story, Journalism as if Gender Matters" (published by Zubaan, 2010).
Regular columns in The Hindu, Sunday Magazine and on The Hoot (www.thehoot.org).